LonelyHearts
by Judge-Douglas-Mason
Summary: BSR Fluff and some romance thrown in for good measure
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. Wish they were, but they're not. Que Sera Sera.  
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They both needed each other that morning, each for their own and collective reasons. He, because it had been a particularly taxing and arduous shift, and she because of the happenings of the shift. The main scene was a multiple homicide in which two adults and three children had been senselessly butchered in their own beds; there were no survivors. To Sara, the stabbings of the parents reminded her, however slightly, of the manner in which her father had lost his life. To Jim, it was all just a waste of human life. He could tell by the shelves in the children's rooms that they were good kids, made good grades, excelled at sports and were really and truly loved unconditionally by their parents. The children were all between the ages of ten and fifteen..."such a loss, he thought to himself as he tried not to vomit from all the blood on the floors, walls, furniture and even on the ceilings.

When shift was over and everyone's energy drained, Sara sat in the locker room on the bench, her head in her hands, slumped forward as if crying. She wasn't though, she was trying to rid her mind of the horrific things she'd seen that night.

Walking slowly down the hall, heading out of the lab, Jim happened to notice her seated there. He approached her slowly, placed a hand on her shoulder and sighed, sitting beside her and nearly mimicking her posture. His hand still on her shoulder, he tried his best to smile but didn't quite succeed. Turning to her, he spoke softly.

"It never ceases to amaze me, the horrible things that we, as a species, are capable of."

Thinking his comment a bit profound and very truthful, Sara just gave a sort of huff and turned to look at him in the eyes.

"But I guess you've seen a lot of cruelty in your life; a lot of senseless waste of life"  
"Yeah, but not like this." he replied

Both standing up at the same time, Jim stood by as she removed her belongings from her locker and shouldered her pack. Heading out of the locker room and down the hall, Jim placed his right hand at the base of Sara's neck and began to rub with his thumb and middle finger, trying to work the knots and stress from her aching neck. She let out a small, low groan and he smiled.

"Come on, let's get something to eat; I'll cook."

A hum of "Umm, hmm." was her only response.

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Over at Jim's place, Sara had showered and changed into some sweats that she kept in a medium sized duffel bag that she kept on the floor of Jim's bedroom closet. When she emerged from the bedroom, she took over the cooking as Jim showered himself. By the time he'd finished and dressed in comfy clothes of his own the meal had been prepared and was sitting on the dining room table. It was a lovely presentation of pancakes, eggs, fruit salad, coffee and orange juice, with sausage for Jim and Fakin' Bacon for Sara.

Afterwards, while Jim relaxed on the couch, Sara cleaned up and then joined him. They snuggled closely on the couch, his arm around her left shoulder and her head resting on his chest. In their own separate minds they each thought back on the events of the previous shift. This close contact between Jim and Sara was nothing new, as they'd been seeing each other for the past few months. It was a hard secret to keep, especially from a lab full of talent varied detectives, but they'd done it and done it well. Today, however, had been the only day that they'd been seen leaving the lab together. Granted, they left in their own cars, but the small kiss as they parted ways before getting into their cars would have been a dead give away had anyone been watching; but someone had, and from behind a row of cars, they smiled and gave a little laugh, saying "Its about time".

They both stayed on the couch for what seemed forever, until almost as if they could read each other's minds, they both got up simultaneously and headed for the bedroom; not for sex, mind you, but for sleep and comfort that could only be given by the arms of friendship, love and complete understanding of the other's feelings, emotions and situation. Of all these elements and aspects, they were both keenly aware. They knew each other like no other in the LVPD or LVCL did. To a degree, Jim and Sara's "meld", if you will, was leaps and bounds stronger than that of hers and Grissom's had been way back when.

No longer did Sara pine over Grissom, the lost cause. She'd moved on with her life and began a new one with the least likely of men; Jim. They'd always been friendly and on good terms. They'd never argued or fought like she and Grissom had, they were always laughing and joking about something. Truth be told, Sara and Jim never really had anything even remotely resembling a fight or heated discussion. Sure, they'd had their disagreements and had always decided to agree to disagree. They never let things fester, either. They always talked things out, never going to bed angry, so to speak.

For his part, Jim had finally opened his heart and was pleasantly surprised when it was Sara that had noticed. In all honesty, he had opened it for her, deciding that if she was interested, which he thought she was, she'd see it; and after a short while, she did. They started out small, meals, cases, phone calls, etc. After about a month or so they'd become closer and closer to where they were now, right at this moment. At this moment Jim was happy and felt as heartwarmingly loved as he had in a long, long time. For years he'd been single by choice and now he seemed to have everything he'd ever wanted. He had a nice house, a good job, a woman he loved and who loved him...the only thing he was missing was family. He had Ellie, true enough, but in his eyes she was a lost cause, but he wanted more, and he finally felt he was ready for it. Question was, would Sara be on board?

They'd known each other for years and shortly after they started dating Jim brought up the subject of family. In the beginning she wasn't so sure she was ready for kids and other family type stuff. But the longer they discussed the matter the more she seemed to warm up to the thought of having a family of her own. Jim wanted a son, someone he could play baseball with and go camping and such. Sara was now of the mind that any baby was a good baby, so long as they were healthy and happy. Sure, there were the concerns about developmental issues, given hers and Jim's ages. The only thing now was that Jim, being kind of the old fashioned type, wanted a REAL family. He wanted a wife and kids. Given their relationship and subsequent discussions, Sara wasn't totally opposed to the idea of marriage. She'd known Jim long enough that she knew his moods, his melancholy and his elations, and he the same about her. As was the same with the discussions about children, Sara was beginning to warm up to the idea of becoming Mrs. Jim Brass, Sidle-Brass or would she keep her own name? The trick of it was would they do it in secret? Would there be a small service or a big one. Sara, being the private person that she was suggested they keep things on the down low, maybe just taking advantage of one of the numerous little chapels in Las Vegas. They both agreed that rings would attract too much attention, but Jim had an idea. They could have their rings and wear them around their necks, on a chain or something of that nature. This way they'd be the only ones that would know and their vows held in the bands of gold that would constantly be close to their hearts, them being the only ones that would know about them.

As they lay in bed, in each other's arms, Jim turned his head to Sara, who lay with her head on his chest and smiled as she ran her fingers through his chest hair. Kissing the top of her head, he took a deep breath and whispered.

"Are you sure you're ready for this? We can always wait a little longer, till you're more comfortable with all of this."

Looking up at him, she smiled that beautiful gap-toothed smile that he loved so much.

"There's nothing more I'd love in life. The question is, are YOU ready?"


	2. Chapter 2

A couple of weeks had passed since these two lonely hearts had agreed to two things; to get married and to have a family. At the lab nothing had changed in those weeks. Jim still did his thing as Captain Brass and Sara did her thing as CSI Sidle, but now as CSI Sidle-Brass, but it was only she and him that knew about the name change. To keep things outside the lab from begging too many questions to be asked they kept their separate residences, for the time being, and tried not to attract too much attention while on scene. 

That very first night, when they'd been married in a small chapel, the decision having been made by a flip of a coin, they immediately started trying for a baby. However, thus far they'd been unsuccessful. But hey, it'd only been a couple of weeks and as we all know, these things take time. When you want it most, that's when it seems as if its taking forever, but when you're not planning for it, that's when it hits you like a ton of bricks. Somewhat disappointed, Sara began to think that she was unable to have children, but with Jim's encouragement, that thought was quickly dashed from her head, with his constant reminders that it'd only be a matter of time. But Sara wasn't the type that liked to wait. She wanted a baby and she wanted one NOW.

It was almost a constant battle that she fought internally everyday. At this point she was seriously considering in vitro-fertilization. True, it take a chunk out of their savings, but she was determined. They'd marked, on the calendar on Jim's fridge, the best and most likely times for Sara to conceive. She'd be ovulating in just a couple of days and as luck would have it, it would be one of her days off. She and Jim could make love repeatedly and she could stand on her head in between encounters, which she would do; literally.

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Seated on a stool in an evidence processing room, Sara stared at items laid out across the table while absentmindedly running her fingers along the chain she wore around her neck. Looking around and seeing no one around, she pulled the chain and ring from under her shirt and read, over and over, to herself, the engraving on the inside of the band which read "Sara, my sweet. Love Always, Jim". It was at this most inopportune moment that Nick entered the room and saw Sara looking at the ring. Not noticing him, Sara continued to gaze at the ring and smile. It wasn't until Nick cleared his throat, to announce his presence, that she nearly fell off her stool and quickly tucked the ring back beneath her shirt.

Having bared witness to her semi-private moment, Nick approached her and rested his chin on her shoulder. This contact was not out of the ordinary, as she and Nick were closer than she was with anyone else at the lab; like brother and sister, perhaps. He loosely wrapped his arms around her neck and whispered.

"I'm so happy for the both of you. Its about time."

Feigning ignorance, Sara just turned to him and offered her best lopsided smile.

"Why, whatever do you mean?" she asked "When did you two do the deed?"

Still trying to cover up, she played dumb.

"I've got no idea what you're talking about."

Gingerly, he reached in, along her neckline and hooked the chain with his index finger, pulling it out and exposing the ring, which he read softly.

"Sara, my sweet. Love Always, Jim."

"Busted!", Sara thought to herself

Turning to Nick, she eyed him.

"You tell, you die. Savvy"  
"Hey, no one's happier for you two than I am." he said quietly

Tucking the chain and ring back under her shirt, he pressed on to the real reason he was there. She and him had been working the same case and while he'd been in the A/V Lab she'd been sifting through the evidence. It was an arson case and as before, in watching the video footage of the lookie-loos he'd spotted the same lady from a couple of years back (the pyro from "Bad Words") Armed with this information he went in search of Sara and found her where she was, in the processing room.

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Back at the precinct, Jim was seated at his desk mimicking Sara's actions from a few blocks away. Running his fingers along the length of chain around his neck, he pulled out the ring and smiled as he read it. Engraved was, "Jim, my love. All my love, Sara." as a smile presented itself on his face Gil Grissom came through his door and simply plopped himself in the chair opposite Jim's desk. Quickly but discreetly Jim put the chain back under his shirt and looked up at his visitor, smiling.

"What's up, man?" he asked "I need you to look these over." Gil responded, setting a rather large stack of folders on Jim's desk

One by one, Jim went through said folders and signed where he needed to. Gil couldn't help but notice the smile still on Jim's face and enquired about it.

"What's got you so happy"  
"Oh, nothing. I'm just having that sort of day." was Jim's response

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Back at the Brass homestead, Sara had arrived home and took the ring from around her neck and put it on her finger,as they both did as soon as they got home. At work they were kept secret, but at home they wore them out in the open. But why shouldn't they? They were safe. they were home. Why should they worry about anything whilst at home? About an hour after she'd arrived the doorbell went off. Thinking Jim had misplaced his keys or something of that nature, Sara opened the door and much to her surprise it was Nick, come for the juicy details of hers and Jim's marriage and relationship. Normally he wasn't one for gossip, but this had to be too good for him not to crave the dish.

A smirk on her face, Sara invited him in and offered him a cup of coffee while he waited for her to return to the living room. As they sat on the couch, Sara was very selective in what she'd told him, not wanting to disclose too much until she ran things by Jim, who was, at this very moment, returning home. Seeing Nick's truck in the drive made him both curious and nervous at the same time. Climbing from his car, Jim walked the path to his front door and opened it just in time to hear Nick ask when they'd gotten married. Hearing these words, Jim froze where he stood and just looked to Sara slack jawed and speechless. Turning to face him, she just told him that Nick had figured things out on his own. A sigh of "good grief" and Jim continued to the bedroom where he changed into something more comfortable and returned to the living area and sitting beside Sara on the couch, began to field the numerous questions that Nick fired at them both.

With the understanding that he was to tell no one, Nick agreed and was rewarded with months worth of delicious details of their relationship, the cover-up and the marriage. It wasn't until Jim and Sara brought up the "baby" issue that Nick became really interested, changing his posture and resting his elbow on his knee and cupping his cheek in his hand.

They set there for a while, just talking and when it came time for Nick to leave, it was under threat of personal injury, lest anyone from the lab hear anything about their marriage from him, he'd spend a great deal of time in a body cast. Nick agreed, saying that this was too good to tell anyone else and that he would most certainly keep things to himself.


	3. Chapter 3

All during the drive home Nick was giggling to himself from the knowledge that he had just gained. Jim and Sara had gotten married and were trying for a baby and he was the only one that knew both of these details. Sure, there were rumours floating around the lab about Jim and Sara but none of them were about marriage or children. The most substantive rumour was that the two of them were seeing each other on the sly, but no one had any clue as to the full extent of their relationship. For their part, Jim and Sara had done a nearly masterful job of keeping things quiet, but there were the odd moments at the lab or on a scene that they let slip little bits of truth in their words and actions. One example being when they were on a scene and the ground was wet, making it slightly difficult for Sara to rise to her feet. Jim extended his hand down to her and helped her up, holding on to her for, perhaps, longer than he should have, after which he asked, in a loving tone, if she was alright, to which she replied that she was and gave him a pat on the back for asking. It was mostly these instances of close physical contact that left people asking after the two of them. 

When he returned home, Nick slipped out of his clothes and crawled under the covers of his large and very inviting bed and slowly drifted to sleep. Little did he know that in his knowing what he knew, he'd be made an obligated but not necessarily unwilling participant in the secret that was the Brass-Sidle union.

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A while later, as Jim and Sara woke from their nap, the doorbell went off and Jim was the one to climb out of bed and answer the door. His eyes still full of sleep, he shuffled, barefoot, down the hall and looked through the peep-hole to see Grissom standing on the other side of the door. Under his arm, Gil held a box that had been delivered to the lab by mistake. Forgetting to remove his ring from his finger, lest Grissom see it, Jim opened the door and gestured for Gil to come in. Closing the door behind himself, Gil sat on the couch while Jim went to the kitchen for coffee, asking if Gil would like some; to which he replied that he didn't.

Returning to the living room, Jim sat on the couch beside Grissom and slowly sipped his coffee while the package was set on the coffee table. Looking around and noting the tidy state of the house, Gil's eyes settled on Jim's hand and the ring upon his finger. Not mentioning it, Gil just explained about the package.

"It came shortly after you left this morning. I figured I'd let you sleep before I brought it over. I was just on my way in and figured I'd drop it off. I didn't know if it was important, so I brought it here instead of the precinct." he explained

Removing the tape from the box, Jim pulled the contents out and smiled. It was a larger version of the ceramic bear that he had on his desk at the precinct. There was also a card that accompanied it. Opening the card, Jim smiled as he read it ad placed it back in the envelope, dropping it back in the box with the bear. Grissom wondered about the bear but asked no questions. After a few moments of silence, he got up and made for the door with Jim on his heels.

Watching as Gil climbed back in his truck, Jim waved him off and returned to bed to keep Sara some company for the next hour, until they'd finally really get up and get ready for work. Sara had vacated her apartment and completely moved in with Jim; it just made sense that way. In the beginning they maintained separate residences but after the marriage Sara gave her notice to the rental office and moved out that week, but having paid until the month's end. Jim's house was certainly larger than Sara's apartment and there was more than enough room for the both of them, between the guest room which had now turned into Sara's office with her computer, police scanner and other such items. Jim kept his den and the room in the basement had been converted to guest quarters, which were more than ample.

A bit pressed for time, at this point, Jim and Sara scurried about taking showers, getting dressed and packing for the upcoming shift. Sara had a feeling it would be a hard night and when she voiced her concerns to Jim who simply shrugged them off and patted her on the back.

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At the lab Sara went on about her business, cataloging evidence that she'd collected form her scene that night. She was right, in that it would be a difficult shift that night. She had another multiple homicide, but this one was particularly gory. Everyone was dead, true enough, but this sick freak of a murderer had taken his time in disemboweling the adults and scattering their entrails about the bedroom floor. The children had simply been smothered by their own pillows, most likely before the parents had been killed. The air was thick with the smell of iron and bowel content and she couldn't wait to get out of there.

As she sifted through the bags of evidence she'd collected her mind wandered toward Jim and their mission to begin a family. Truth be told, Sara never really liked kids, she was never really any good with them, but when she thought of having one of her own her face lit up and she got all these warm feelings inside. She thought about the differences between having a boy versus a girl. With a girl you had all the frilly things like dresses and girly toys; Barbie and such. And with Barbie came all the outfits. If you have the beach bunny Barbie, then you've got to get the beach house and if you have the beach house you've got to have the sports car, etc. With boys things are easier. You have simple boy clothes and simple boy toys like G.I. Joe and other action figures. Give a boy an action figure and a puddle of mud and he's happy all day, whereas girls tend to be more dainty and not very much into playing in the mud or getting dirty.

Thinking back to her own childhood, Sara remembered being a bit of a tomboy. She was content to play in the woods and climb trees and play Legionnaire , Camelot or Pharaoh with other children in the neighbourhood. Sometimes, frequently actually, she and her friends would camp out in someone's back field or actually sleep the woods, but only when someone's parents were present. Her mother seemed not to care much if Sara slept at home or away and her father cared only slightly more. She could only imagine what went on at home when she wasn't there. Sometimes she'd come home after a night or two away and her mother would have bruises on her arms or face. When Sara would ask about them, her father would always answer that she'd fallen down or walked into a wall or door. There was always an explanation of some sort. Sometimes, when she'd be home and there was arguing, Sara would lay in bed, a pillow over her head and ears to muffle the shouting and sounds of dishware and knickknacks flying about, crashing into the walls of their small home. To say that her childhood was abysmal would be an understatement. But all that changed when her mother killed her father and she went into foster care.

Realizing that she was dwelling on the negative, Sara snapped out of her flashback and went on with her processing only to be interrupted when shift was over and Jim came calling in the form of her cell phone going off. Picking it up and seeing the caller ID, she smiled and flipped it open; stating she'd be out in a minute.

Jim and Sara drove home in companionable silence and when they pulled into the drive, she slowly climbed out of the car and just sort of stood there staring into space. Jim wondered what she was thinking and as he asked, she turned to him and gave her best fake smile before explaining about her thoughts that morning and her childhood. She said she wasn't sure what sort of parent she'd make and it was then that Jim voiced his own concerns about his ability to effectively parent and raise a child. Its kind of odd, Jim thought to himself. What is possibly the single most important thing in the world, (raising a child) is a situation in which you really have to wing it. There are no hard and fast, definitive rules to raising children, as no two children are the same. Its essentially a matter of trial and error. What works with one child doesn't necessarily work with another. Sure, there are loads of books on the matter, but as with children, no two books are the same.

As Jim and Sara climbed into bed it was late morning and well after Jim had fallen asleep Sara was still wondering over how she'd be as a mother. She resigned herself to the fact that she'd just have to wait and see.


	4. Chapter 4

It had been a couple of weeks since Grissom had seen the ring on Jim's hand and all the while his frustration and resentment had been growing and growing; almost out of control. He wasn't as courteous to either Jim or Sara when they'd cross paths at the lab or on scene and he was generally in a foul mood. It was even to the point that he was beginning to take his feelings out on others. For example, if Archie wasn't viewing video footage fast enough, Grissom would snap at him or if Nick and Warrick weren't processing a car in the vehicle bay fast enough he'd throw a temper tantrum. 

For their part, Jim and Sara were doing their best to steer clear of Grissom, only speaking with him when absolutely necessary. As his twisted form of punishment for Sara, Grissom had been giving her the worst cases to work on; either terribly mundane or horribly gruesome. There was nothing he could do to Jim and this seemed to frustrate him further. He wanted both of them to suffer...all because he didn't have the balls enough to approach Sara before she began to see Jim and now he was resenting everyone and everything that reminded him of her.

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That morning when shift had ended, Brass had come to pick up Sara from the lab and as Grissom walked to his car, he saw them kissing and that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. He made a bee-line for Jim and seeing Grissom out of the corner of his eye he steered Sara into the car just in time for Grissom to come up on him with fury evident on his face and in his balled up fists. Grissom wasn't much of a fighter and Brass had quite the reach on him, not to mention the boxing he'd done while in college.

Grissom came up shouting about Jim and Sara sneaking around and just when Jim thought it was over Grissom shoved him. His feet firmly planted, Jim didn't move much. He wasn't in the mood to fight and would do what he could to dissolve the situation before it got ugly. Watching the exchange between Jim and Grissom, Sara couldn't believe what she was seeing. In a defensive posture, Jim took a step back and put his hands up in a halting gesture.

"Look, I don't know what's gotten into you, but this won't solve anything. I don't want to fight you." Jim said

"Its too late for words. Actions speak louder." Grissom said, taking a swing

Brass ducked and instinctively punched Gil in the stomach, sending him staggering backward.

"I don't want to fight you. Why don't you just go home and cool off." Brass said in slightly raised tones

Hearing this, Grissom shoved Jim up against the side of his car with such force that it made a dent in the door. In an effort to get Grissom off of him, Jim shoved back, sending Gil several feet back. Taking the opportunity of the distance between them and walked round' the back of the car to climb in but Grissom was like him like a blowfly on a dead pig. Pulling him back from the shoulders, Grissom spun him around so that they were face to face. He took another swing and Brass decided that he'd end things right there and then. As Brass ducked from Grissom's swing, Gil's fist smashed through the back driver's side window. Brass Drew his sidearm and trained it on Gil, effectively stopping him moving; he stood stock still. His eyes staring down the barrel of Jim's Sig Sauer, he shouted.

"What are you gonna do, shoot me?"

"No, I'm gonna get in and drive home and you're gonna do the same before you do something really stupid."

Opening the door and climbing behind the wheel, Jim started the car and as Grissom turned and walked away, he pounded on the trunk with such force that his good fist left a sizeable dent. Pulling out of his parking spot, Brass looked at Grissom walking away, cradling his wounded hand. Once inside the lab, Gil went down to the morgue to see the good doctor for some first aid. Doc Robbins having left already, Grissom rummaged through drawers for gauze, beta dine and some first aid tape. With tweezers in his left hand, he began pulling tiny shards of glass from the open cuts on his hand. That having been done,  
he dumped some beta dine on his hand and wiped off the excess before wrapping his hand in gauze and taping it up. For doing all of this with his non-dominant hand, Grissom was slightly pleased with himself, though still thoroughly pissed with Brass.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

On the drive home Sara turned to Jim and asked him what the scuffle was all about.

"He's got a head of bad wiring. The man needs a vacation." Jim replied

"I can't believe you pulled your gun on him." Sara said, still surprised

"Well, it was the only thing I could think of to stop him hurting himself any further and to convey the message that I didn't want any more of his outburst. Besides, I wouldn't have actually shot him. I just wanted there to be no mistakes about who had the upper hand. Grissom doesn't use his gun and I do; he knows this. If I did anything, I probably would have just cracked him on the head and left it at that." Jim explained

"I swear, sometimes he can be so thick headed." Sara commented

"I think the gun in his face was a clear message that we don't want a confrontation." Jim said

When they arrived home it was to a ringing phone and several messages on the machine. Since Jim was the one that had the confrontation with Grissom, Sara went and showered while Jim listened to the numerous messages from Grissom. They were harsh worded and even some semi-threats against Jim's person. There were about seven messages from Grissom and when the phone stopped ringing the machine picked up and took another message from Grissom. This message was stating that the next time he saw Brass there'd be blows. He'd never seen Grissom so angry and physically abusive. To the best of his knowledge, Grissom was a pacifist, Buddha says this and Buddha says that, etc.

Sara heard the last message in which Grissom was threatening Jim and she just scratched her head. She didn't know what had gotten into Grissom as of late. He'd had his chances, far too many of them, so when she decided to get along with her life, she decided to do it with Jim. But for as long as Grissom and Jim had been friends, he never thought he'd be in a position to incur the wrath of Gil. He'd never really seen Gil get visibly angry since the rave several years ago. That was the first time he'd really seen Gil get visibly upset. Truth be told, he looked like he was going to punch the guy (Ethan) out.

Jim was tired of listening to the messages, so he erased them all and went to take a shower. Having undressed and walked into the bathroom au natural, he noticed something on the sink top. It was a pregnancy test and it was negative. He was getting frustrated for Sara in her attempts to get pregnant having been unsuccessful. Jim was patient and figured that all they needed was time, but Sara was getting seriously discouraged and was, in her mind, resigning herself to the fact that she was infertile. Unbeknownst to Jim, Sara had made an appointment with a fertility specialist that might be able to shed some light on why she hadn't yet conceived. She kept this secret from Jim because she didn't want him to know how discouraged she was and if it turned out that she was able to conceive, then maybe the problem lay with Jim and his little soldiers. He had enough to worry about in regard to work without having the knowledge that he was the one that the fertility problem lay with him; he didn't need to know that, or at least not yet.

At least an hour had passed since they got home and after Jim got out of the shower and into his sweats that they decided to hit the sheets. They both stripped down to nothing and crawled under the sheets and held each other while they fell asleep. Their grip was pretty standard; both of them on their sides, spooning, with Jim's arm draped around Sara's waist. This was the usual sleeping form for them. It was either Jim's arm or Sara's arm draped around the other. They liked to spoon; it was a most comfortable position for them. However, during the morning, as they slept, they'd change positions and wake up on their backs, stomachs, her head on his chest, his head on her chest, her hand cupping his privates or his hand cupping her breast,  
etc. But no matter what state they woke up in, they were always well rested. This morning when Sara woke, her hand was firmly grasped around his manhood, which was rock hard. Jim was still asleep and Sara decided to wake him up in a proper way. She ducked under the covers and took him into her mouth where she bobbed her head up and down, swirling her tongue around his shaft and as she did this she could hear soft moans coming from Jim. This made her smile as she worked her way up the length of his body and straddled his midsection between her thighs. She dipped her head down and began to kiss him around the neck, chest and lips. Jim was slowly waking up and as Sara nibbled his ear, she slipped his manhood inside her and began to rock her hips up and down the substantial length of his rock hard penis. By this time Jim was completely awake and his hands were on her hips, slamming her down on him with considerable force. Jim liked a little rough, as did Sara. In an instant, Jim rolled Sara onto her back and thrust himself into Sara with such force that the mattress and box frame actually came free from the bed frame and landed on the floor. This was the first time this had happened and Jim was glad he lived in a house instead of an apartment because both of them could be loud at times. Be it moaning, screaming, the bed frame slamming against the wall, lamps crashing to the ground and other very loud sounds. The bed having fallen apart and the mattress still on the floor, this didn't stop Jim and Sara, they kept on going until they both lay, spent, still on the mattress. After a few moments of post coital cuddling, Jim turned to Sara and smiled.

"I think we need a new bed frame." he said, smiling

"I think you might be right." she agreed

They both got up and disassembled the bed frame and moved the mattress out and away from the frame. They reassembled the frame and set the box spring and mattress in place. Sara stripped the sheets and redressed the bed while Jim tossed the old sheets and clothes from the hamper in the wash. They both jumped in the shower because they didn't want to go into work smelling of sex. They washed and dried each other and then got dressed for work. They weren't due to be in for a couple of hours, so they just bummed around the house until it was time to go in.

They were both nervous about this shift because of the messages that Grissom had left on the machine. In a knock-down, drag out fight, Jim would most assuredly win. However, Grissom had rage on his side and anger can be a powerful motivator.

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Pulling up in front of the lab, Jim dropped Sara off and waited until she got inside to pull away. He was old fashioned that way. He'd hold doors open for her, pull out her chair at the dining room table, wait until she got inside the lab to leave and other such gentlemanly behaviors. In her mind, Jim was the perfect gentleman and she had won the prize when she had married Jim.

As she walked down the hall to the locker room, she passed Grissom's office and saw him with his face buried in a book on archaic techniques. Seeing the title, she scoffed and continued to the locker room to stow her crap. For a bit of privacy, she went into the ladies room and holed up in a u-bend. She called Jim's desk phone and left a message in regard to the book she had seen Grissom reading. She told him to be careful and to tread lightly around Grissom.

After leaving the message, she went to the break room where she found Nick, Warrick and Greg. Looking over at Nick, he just smiled back at her. She sat at the conference table and thought about the bed-breaking sex that she and Jim had had earlier that day. She knew that Jim could be quite vigorous in bed but had no idea exactly how energetic he could be. She was no mannequin in bed either and their stamina seemed to work in favour for the both of them. This wasn't the only thing that they had in common; but it helped. They both liked to cook, eat, watch the same type of programming, outdoors activities, reading on the same topics, etc. In all truth, she had more in common with Jim than she would ever have with Grissom. Before going out with Jim, she weighed the pros and cons between he and Grissom. She wanted to make the best informed decision and in the end she decided that Jim was best for her. True, he could be a bit cranky, sarcastic and short tempered at times, however, for the most part he was just like anyone else. But it was the ways in which he was different that she loved most about him. She loved that he was on the short side, she loved his hairline, she loved his wattle, she loved his butt when he was wearing jeans and she absolutely loved his hairy chest. She never would have thought of him being a fur ball. He had great legs, too. There was very little that she didn't love about him, and there was so much to love. She even loved his paunch. So what if he hated it and said that it made him feel fat; she loved it. She loved to wrap her arms around his waist and just give him a squeeze.

Just then, Grissom entered the break room and handed out the assignments for the night. As per usual as of late, Sara was given the worst case of the evening. There was a severe decomp over at Meade. Apparently he was a camper that had been attacked by some sort of animal.

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Sara arrived on scene and when she saw the body she nearly honked. She was leaning against a tree trying not to recapitulate her breakfast when Brass showed up with his little memo pad. He had already been there when Sara got there, but had stepped away to relieve himself behind an obliging tree. When he returned to the scene he was glad to see Sara, but sad for her that she'd been given a shitty assignment. He made a mental note to himself to have a chat with Grissom and why he'd been giving her the crappy slips.

She took scads of pictures and took hair and fibre samples before David showed up and took the body away. She processed the tent and the contents within and when she was done, she and Jim drove back to the lab; but in separate vehicles.

When she returned to the lab, Sara took her evidence into the layout room and started processing the tent again. There were tear marks and the screen was slashed open. Next,, she went through the contents of the camper's pack and laid the contents out on the table. The idiot had kept food in his pack, which was in his tent. What kind of idiot keeps open food in their tent. Everyone knows to string up open food from a tree or other high place.

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In his office, Grissom was still reading the same book from before when Jim came in and sat across from him; staring him down.

"What the hell do you want?!" Grissom growled

"I want to talk to you about your giving Sara all the shitty assignments. If you're looking for someone to punish, then punish me. Quit taking it out on her. We both know your beef is with me, so be a man and pick on someone your own size." Jim snapped back

Grissom got up, and approached Jim who was still seated. He stood in front of Jim and placed his hands on the armrests of the chair he was sitting in. His face in Brass's face, Grissom stared him down.

"I want to know what Sara sees in you. Why she would pick a toad like you over me. I can offer her so much more than you. I mean, look at you. You're short, balding, cranky and you wear too much cologne. Plus you're old enough to be her father; that's a little sick, don't you think?" Grissom yelled as he poked Jim in the chest

Jim could be insulted from sun up till sundown, but the poking had to stop. Brass poked back with such force that he nearly sent Grissom off his feet. As Grissom staggered backward, Jim got to his feet and cornered Grissom on the edge of his desk. Jim's placed his hands on either side of the desk, beside Grissom. Face to face, Brass fired back.

"She chose me because you're emotionally stunted, have the personality of a baby's feeding spoon and you're bitter. You're also so unoriginal; you don't ever have an original thought, you always have to quote someone in order to express your feelings. She gave you all sorts of chances, but you never stepped up. Instead, I stepped up. And you know what; I make her happier than you ever could. And incase that's not enough for you; we're married." Jim yelled as he pulled his necklace and ring out from under his shirt

Seeing the ring again, Grissom took a swing at Brass and Jim ducked.

"We've been through this before. I don't want to fight you." Jim said as he backed up

"Well, tough titties for you." Grissom said as he took another swing

Brass ducked again and landed a jab to Gil's lower ribcage. He doubled over and grabbed his side. Jim just stood there for a moment and was about to leave Grissom's office when he was hit from behind in the lower back. Acting on instinct, Jim turned round' and swung his fist and made contact with Grissom's nose, causing it to bleed. Grissom kicked Jim in the knee and as Jim hit the ground, Gil hit him with an uppercut to the chin, effectively laying him out. On the flat of his back, with Grissom standing over him, Jim kicked Gil in the scrotum and watched as Grissom fell to the ground in a foetal position. Jim got up and as he was walking to the door, Gil spun around and tripped Jim, causing him to crack his head on the door jamb. Blood flowing freely from his head wound, Jim braced himself and turned round' just in time to see Grissom getting up and closing on him. Before Grissom could make any move, Brass made his first. He punched Gil in the stomach and as he doubled over again, Jim kneed him in the face, sending him flying back into one of his metal shelving units. As Grissom tried to steady himself, Jim took one last swing and hit Gil in the eye; shattering his eye orbit and giving him a black eye. Stepping back from Gil, Brass said one last thing.

"You leave us alone and stop giving Sara all the crap assignments or I'll tell Ecklie exactly why you've been doing it. I'll also tell him that you've been harassing her for weeks and you'll either lose your job or have your shift changed. My point is; watch your step. Ecklie already hates you and if I go to him with this, you're screwed." Jim said in calm tones

He left the office and Grissom and went in search of Sara who was in the layout room still processing the contents of the pack. Hair and fibre had been sent to DNA and when Sara was done with the pack, she went to observe the autopsy of her camper. Doc. Robbins was in the middle of his "Y" incision when she walked through the door.

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Limping out to his car, Jim opened his trunk and pulled out a walking, hinged knee-brace. He had a touch of arthritis in his knee and periodically wore the brace under his suit pants so no one would see it. He tightened the Velcro straps on the brace and lowered his pant leg so no one would see the brace. After that, he went back to the precinct was about to file a grievance report when his cell went off. He saw that it was Sara so he opened it and listened as she spoke.

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Shift was over and as Jim rolled up in front of the lab, Sara came out and jumped in the passenger seat. Looking at Jim, she asked about his chat with Grissom.

"I tried to reason with him but he wasn't having any of it. He became physical and I defended myself. He's wounded, but he'll live. As for me, I've just got the cut on my head, but I'm fine. He kicked me in my bad knee, but I've got my brace on." he explained

"I never thought your chat would come to blows. I hate to think of you two getting in a fight over me. Its so un-necessary; really, I'm not all that much." she said

"You give yourself too little credit. You're a gem and therefore beautiful in every way, shape and form. You're well worth fighting over." Jim said in a joking tone

They drove home and when they arrived, they went straight to bed, but Jim had a headache so he took some ibuprofen and washed it down with a large glass of water and returned to bed and Sara's side. They spooned up with each other and fell asleep, trying to forget the day's events; especially Jim and his physical confrontation with Grissom.


	5. Chapter 5

When Sara woke later that day it was to the sound of the alarm going off and as she looked at her watch she growled and shut the alarm off. It was a Saturday and as she cursed Jim for forgetting to leave the alarm off she rolled over and snuggled up behind him so she could get some more asleep. For the next several hours they both slept and when they both finally woke up it was around 22:00hrs. Yeah, it was late, but that was per usual for sleep patterns for them when they didn't have to go in. 

She carefully climbed out of bed and went to take a shower. As she was in the middle of washing her hair she was surprised when Jim jumped in with her. He began to soap her back and with the loofah mitt he worked his way from her neck all the way down to the small of her back. When the shampoo was out of her hair she turned round' and gave him a good morning kiss. Since she was done with her shower she decided to return Jim's favour. She took the mitt from him and scrubbed him all over, save for his privates, which she washed by hand. She washed his hair, which she loved to do because she loved his stubbly head, and directed him under the spray of water. They didn't take mutual showers very often, but when they did, it was like a treat. There was usually no sex involved, but just the touching and caressing of each other's body.

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At his place, Grissom was busy festering and numbing his wounds from his earlier confrontation with Brass. He was usually a fairly passive person but for some reason when it came to Sara he became possessive; labouring under the delusion that she was his. She was never his and no matter how many times he was told this by whomever, it was like it was in one ear and out the other.

At present he was sitting on the couch watching the tellie and nursing a bottle of scotch that he'd started nearly as soon as he arrived home. He had had one of the worst days of his life and now he was alone with his bottle of scotch and tumbler. He stared blankly at the tellie as he drank his drink and festered about Jim and Sara.

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On the other side of town Jim and Sara were getting on with their lives by means of having a night out, beginning with supper and ending with a nice walk down Trop. They looked in the windows of some of the shoppes and rode some coasters. It was a night out to try to forget the morning's events. They were going to have as much fun as possible; even if it killed them. They wore their rings freely and had discussed the option of wearing them out in the open permanently. See, Jim was not her supervisor; point in fact, he was in a different branch of the police, so there was no problem in their relationship. It would have been different if Jim were still CSI supervisor at the crime lab, but he wasn't, so they decided to start wearing their rings out in the open and when the questions came they'd answer them accordingly.

Truth be told, they were tired of hiding their union and the lab guys would find out sooner or later anyway, so they figured "What the Hell". As they walked down the street, heading back to the restaurant, they felt an odd sort of freedom. So what if Jim was twenty or so years older than Sara, she didn't care. Sara could care less about their age difference; it was what they had in common and their similarities that she focused on. They had so much in common that it was almost scary. Really, the only thing they differed on was that Jim ate meat and Sara didn't.

As they reached Jim's car, they decided to take a holiday. They both had more than enough vacation time and when they reached the car they were deciding between two weeks in the mountains or two weeks in the Nation's Capital. Jim had a friend in DC and that friend had a beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. By the time they reached the lab they had decided to do the DC/Beach trip. Jim dropped Sara off so she could fill out her forms and he went to the precinct so he could fill out his. They would leave in one week and as Jim was driving back to the lab to pick Sara up he called his friend and asked if he could have use of his vacation house. His friend said yes and as Jim pulled up in front of the lab he had a smile on his face. Sara climbed in and asked why he was smiling.

"I talked to my friend and he said we could have use of the vacation house for the two weeks." he explained

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The week seemed to fly by and as their holiday drew closer and closer, Grissom grew more and more bitter. He'd show up late for shift sometimes and when he didn't show up on a couple of occasions, Catherine would take charge. When he was in the lab he was short with the staff and it looked as if he hadn't bathed in days.

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Sitting in first class, Jim and Sara flew East for around seven hours and when they touched down at National Airport, Sara grabbed the bags while Jim hailed a cab. The house was about twenty minutes from the airport , in a suburb of DC called Cabin John. It was in Maryland and as soon as they pulled up in front of the house Jim paid the fare and they carried their bags up the stone path to the front door of the house. Jim found the spare key and opened the door. It wasn't a big house, but it had four bedrooms and a nice sized yard.

They set their bags in the master bedroom and as it was night time, they stripped down to their underclothes and tried to sleep. They had stayed awake on the plane so they wouldn't be awake all night and they tried to sleep it began to rain. The sound of the raindrops on the metal window awnings was sort of soothing to them and when they finally wound up falling asleep it was around midnight.

The next morning it was still raining and that put a damper on their plans for the day, so they spent their time at the market and familiarizing themselves with the house and the surrounding area. It was late December and as Jim knew, there were several hiking trails in the area, as the house was only a short walk away from the C&O Canal and Loch 10. Jim knew of a cabin in the woods that was just a forty-five minute hike from the house. Jim suggested that they spend two or three days at the cabin on Plummer's Island. It was a one room cabin with a detached kitchen/cook room. Jim had been there before and knew that Sara would appreciate the time in the woods.

When they got back from the market they filled two internal frame packs with food, toiletries and other camping necessities. Jim would carry the sleeping bags on his pack and Sara would carry the sleeping mats. Since there was no overnight parking at the lot near the cabin, they wore parkas and hiked from the house, through the woods and up to the cabin. Inside, it was clean and fairly empty. There was wood for a starter fire and as Jim started the fire Sara went out in search of wood. It would have to be dried by fireside because it was wet, but when it came to use it, it was perfectly good. On the porch that faced the Potomac River, Jim sat on the picnic table and looked out onto the river. Sara joined him with a bottle of Absinth. He looked at her and gave a goofy grin.

"Where'd you find this?" he asked

"In the liquor cabinet. Thought it might be fun. It has an aphrodisiac effect, you know." she replied

"I don't believe we need that. I think our sex life is fine the way it is." Jim stated

"Yeah, but it can intensify sensations and emotions."

"I thought this stuff was illegal in the states." Jim said

"Its illegal to sell, but not to own." Sara stated

"A technicality, I'm sure." he said, chuckling

Sara poured some in a little Dixie cup and drank it. She poured some for Jim and warned him.

"Now, it tastes like chewing on tree bark, but the aftertaste doesn't last long. A couple shots of this stuff and we'll be like rabbits." she said, looking at him and wriggling her nose like a rabbit

Jim just laughed and downed the cup of liquor and made a displeased face in reaction to the aftertaste of the drink.

"You weren't joking. This stuff tastes nasty."

"Yeah, but it works. Just give it time." she said

After an hour and three shots Jim was feeling very amorous and as Sara sat inside watching the fire, Jim approached her. He gently began to rub her shoulders and worked his way down her back as he trailed kisses down her neck, back and waist. Fully aware as to what was going on and why.

They made love by fireside and when they both lay spent on their open sleeping bags they were wrapped in each other's arms. They gazed into the fire and were mesmerized by the tiny little fire dancers and after several hours they got dressed and decided to go for a little walk. It was still raining out and Jim led Sara down to the river where they sat on a log and watched the water flow by.

When the sun was beginning to set, they got up and tried to get back to the cabin but got misplaced instead. They wound up at the trail head at the crossing point on the island. From there they followed the path back up the hill back to the cabin. When they returned they were hungry and Jim opened his pack and pulled out two MREs that he had found along with the rest of the camping gear back at the house. Holding them up, he looked at Sara and grinned.

"So, you want spaghetti or macaroni and cheese?" he asked

"Either is ok with me." she replied

They ate their rations and sat up for a few more hours watching the fire and talking about their marriage. Jim wanted kids; lots of them and he wanted to sound Sara out about this.

"I know you're not good with kids, but how do you feel about them, in general?" he asked

"I like kids, but I've never been good with them. I know you're good with kids because I've seen you with them. I know you want kids and since you and I are married, I suppose we should start a family before its too late. I want you to make you happy and I know that kids would make you happy, so let's do it." she said

Jim was surprised to hear Sara so agreeable to the thought of having kids. And for her to say that she wanted to have them because she knew it would make Jim happy was definitely something he didn't expect. She was willing to do something purely to make him happy; something she didn't necessarily want, but that he did.

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The next morning the rain had let up and it was sunny out, and as Jim went to relieve himself Sara woke up and added more wood to the fire. She started a pot of coffee and when Jim returned she had set out some food options for breakfast. He settled on a powerbar and some coffee, when it was ready. When Sara went out to relieve herself Jim changed out of his sleepwear and into something more comfortable. When she returned and saw that Jim had changed she enquired.

"Well, I thought we'd head out this morning before it starts to rain again or the river gets too high. It may already be too high. We may have to wade across to the other side." he explained

"Ok, then. Just let me pack up our shit and we can leave. I'm not going to change, though. I see no point in getting perfectly clean clothes by walking through waist high water. God, I'd hate to have to wade across." she said

They were packed up within half an hour and as they walked back down to the mainland they could see that the river was up and they would, indeed, have to wade across. The distance wasn't that far, maybe twenty feet, so Sara took off her pack and hurled it across to the other side of the bank. Jim thought about doing the same, but decided to carry his pack over his head while he crossed. With Sara's hands empty, she was in a better position to cross the distance and this was a good thing because she slipped several times and needed to use her hands to brace herself; that is when she didn't fall face first in the water. As soon as Jim was waist deep, he hurled his pack to the other bank and closed the distance, but not without falling over,  
himself.

The walk back was cold and there was a heavy wind that they had to contend with. By the time they made it back to the house they were frozen through and Jim went to turn the heat up on the thermostat. Sara was the first to take a shower and when she was done Jim was all too ready for his shower. When they both had finished Jim looked in the fridge for something to eat for that night's supper. He pulled a steak out of the freezer and an eggplant from the fridge along with some other veggies and some Basmati rice from one of the kitchen cabinets.

Later that evening Sara sat at the table in the screened in porch watching the little girl across the street in her yard playing with her dog. She was smiling and giggling as she chased the dog around. This made her think about having kids with Jim. Sure, he'd make a great father, but what sort of mother would she make? As she watched the girl she wished she were playing with the girl. She wondered what it would be like to hold her own child in her arms and play with him or her.

This trip was kind of on the ideal side, as Sara was currently ovulating and if she and Jim wanted to try for a child then now would be a good time. When Jim came out of the house with dinner in hand she told him the situation and it was then that they decided to spend the next couple of days doing little other than making love and trying to conceive. This was a good idea because those days it continued to rain off and on all day.

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Back in Vegas Grissom was still festering and becoming more and more irritable by the day. He was short with the staff and becoming more and more prone to temper tantrums. He'd also taken to locking himself in his office, pouring over paperwork that needed doing. When it was time to hand out slips he'd call Catherine or Warrick or summon each individual team member to his office and give them their own slip. He associated with the team less and less and this was not doing him any good; not to mention the team's morale was at an all time low.

He had become a tyrant and no one wanted to be around him or even within earshot or eyesight of him. At one point he had became so upset over something petty that he started throwing things around his office and even breaking some of the glass jars on one of his metal shelving units; Miss Piggy had gone crashing to the ground. He didn't even bother to clean up the mess, he just stormed out of his office and went to the lot for his car. He had decided to take the night off and stay at home where he would do the least damage.

When he arrived home, he pulled a beer from the fridge and plopped himself down on the couch and proceeded to drink himself into a stupor. As he sat drinking himself into oblivion, his thoughts wandered to what Jim and Sara might be doing at that very moment.

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Jim and Sara were cat-napping in the living room when the house phone began to ring. Neither of them picked it up as the call would most likely not be for them. It wasn't until Jim's cell went off that he picked up. He looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was quite late; around midnight, to be exact. He figured it was someone from back West. He opened his cell and answered it. It was Nick calling to check up on him and to gripe about Grissom's recent behaviour. They spoke for several minutes and then Brass hung up. Sara asked what was going on and Jim told her everything Nick had told him.

"Man, he's really hit bottom, hasn't he?" Sara commented

"It would appear as such." Jim replied

Jim crawled out of bed and slipped into some sweats and went into the living room. He sat on the couch and flipped the tellie on. As he sat watching, he found something on the National Geographic channel about Ancient Egypt and the Pharos. He settled in and began seriously watching when Sara snuggled up and put her head in his lap. He began to stroke her hair and draw lazy circles on her back with his fingertips. She lay like this for a while until Jim decided to get up and go to the bedroom.

They both crawled under the sheets and, with a quickness, fell back to sleep. They dreamed dreams of each other that night and didn't wake up until midmorning the next day. When they did wake up Jim looked at the clock and noted the time; 10:00hrs. He tried to nudge Sara awake and when that didn't work he tried some more creative measures to rouse her. He reached around and cupped her right breast in his hand and began to slowly massage it, thumbing the nipple. She slowly began to wake and reached behind her and rubbed Jim's crotch. His member was growing and rock hard and from the feeling, he was ready to go. Sara was half awake and knew exactly what Jim was trying to do. She rolled over while she continued to rub his member as she took hold of his butt and gave it a good squeeze as she kissed his chest. She rolled him over onto his back and slipped his thick, throbbing member inside her and slowly began to ride him. Opening his eyes, he looked at Sara and her eyes were wide open and staring right into his. He loved to look into her eyes when they made love; he loved the look of ecstasy on her face. He was happy to please her and from the looks of today and days past, he pleased her very much. She almost always called out his name when she climaxed and all he could do was mumble hers as he reached his climax. To Sara, Jim was by far, the best lover she'd ever had. Jim could say the same about Sara as she was very enthusiastic and vigorous; not to mention imaginative. Sometimes they'd role play, like she was resisting arrest and he was trying to apprehend her. Truth be told, he used his cuffs with Sara almost as often as he did with perps. Jim wasn't much into being tied up or cuffed, but for Sara he'd do just about anything. With her, it was more sensory deprivation than anything else (look but don't touch, touch but don't look, no look, no touch) it was about not being in complete control, not being able to touch or see what Jim was doing to her; all she could do was feel his ministrations.

Later that day, after they'd both got their cookies, they went in search of that all important symbol of the Christmas season; the tree. There was a tree lot in Glen Echo, about a mile or so from the house. They pulled into a parking spot and walked amongst the trees and picked out a nice spruce that wasn't too big. When they returned to the house Jim went into the attic and brought down the tree decorations. They spent the next couple of hours decorating the tree and when they were done they set out for Montgomery Mall which was about ten minute's drive from the house. They parked the car from the house in the garage and went inside to do a bit of shopping. They entered at the food court and after a few moments they went their separate ways; agreeing to meet back there in a couple hours.

Jim worked his way around the mall and hit Abercrombie & Fitch, the Warner Bros. Store, Georgetown Leather design and several other stores. On the other end of the mall, Sara was hitting The Sharper Image, Brookstone, Waldenbooks and Champs Sporting Goods. It wasn't until her cell went off and she answered it that she realized just how much time had passed. It was Jim calling from the food court. She said she'd meet him just as soon as she'd completed her purchases.

As Jim sat at a table eating some Chinese food from The Panda CafИ, he saw Sara approaching and hailed her. She walked over and set her bags down as she dropped into the chair opposite Jim. Looking at her bags, he grinned.

"Been busy, have we?" he asked

"I could ask the same of you." she replied

They both laughed and Sara looked down at the plate in front of her. It was all vegetarian Chinese cuisine. When they were done they returned to the garage and drove back to the house. Once there, Sara went in first and hid her purchases in the hall closet while Jim stashed his in the attic while Sara was in the bathroom. The rest of the night they sat on the couch watching old Christmas movies; by far, Jim's favourite was A Christmas Story and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Sara was kind of falling asleep during the second film so she got up and went to bed while Jim stayed awake. He gave Sara about an hour before he checked to make sure she was asleep and seeing that she was, he went into the attic and brought down Sara's presents so he could wrap them. He wasn't so good at wrapping and it showed, but he was certain she'd like what he had bought her. When he was done, he put the gifts back in the attic and joined Sara in bed.

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Grissom was busy processing a corpse at the Body Farm. It had been there for a couple of days before it was found and immediately reported to the Crime Lab. Being in the bad mood that he was, Grissom took the scene alone. This gave him time to think about his life and how he was wasting it by pining for Sara when there was now no chance for she and him. He had collected several forms of insect life from the dead body and placed them in small evidence jars and then he set them in a large paper evidence bag.

David had just taken the body away when Grissom found what looked like a spent shell casing that was just under the body. He placed it in a bindle and set it in the paper bag along with the bugs. When he was done he returned to his truck and drove back to the lab only to find what looked like an occasional card on his desk. He set his kit and bags on the floor and opened the card. It was a Christmas card from Sara. She wished him a Happy Christmas card with a message attached.

"No hard feelings. You're still important to me and I hope we can still be friends and have a cordial working relationship. Regards, Sara."

Grissom was surprised, to say the least, to get a card from Sara. He was more surprised that she seemed to still be on good terms with him, knowing what they knew. He was still bitter about Jim and Sara's marriage and wondered what it would be like when they returned from back East. Would they let their marriage stand out in the open or would they continue to conceal it? Either way, certain things would happen, either for or against Jim and Sara.

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Sara woke in the early hours of the morning and while Jim was still asleep she pulled her purchases from the hall closet and wrapped them. She was far better at wrapping than Jim was and it showed. When she was done, she placed them back in the closet and put on a pot of coffee. While she waited for the brew, she slipped into a thick shirt and sweats and went outside and took a seat on the front porch. It was snowing now and as the minutes ticked by she watched the snow accumulate on the front lawn and street. It looked as if there were several inches on the ground and Christmas was only two days away. She hoped the snow would stay for the holiday and if it didn't, then she hoped it would continue snowing to give them a white Christmas.

To be honest, Sara wasn't much for holidays and didn't celebrate them. But now that she was with Jim she figured she'd celebrate in her own way and when they had kids she'd do holidays for them because children love holidays and they love getting gifts even more. There were some things she'd have to get used to now that she was married to Jim. He was kind of cynical when it came to holidays; to him a holiday was just another day on the calendar, no different than the day before or after Easter.

Still watching the snow, she was surprised when she felt a hand on her shoulder and a full mug of coffee in front of her. Dressed in sweats of his own, Jim sat in the chair beside her and drank his own coffee. They sat there for about an hour, talking about the snow and the children that were already dragging their sleds and saucers up the street. There was a school up the street that had a nice sledding hill that was nice and steep. With the amount of snow already on the ground, Sara got the bright idea to build a snowman. She went inside, got completely dressed and came back out and began to roll the snow. The front yard was big enough that one could build several snowmen, but Sara just wanted one. Jim got dressed himself and joined Sara outside in the snow. They spent a couple of hours outside making the snowman and when they were done, Sara went inside and grabbed a carrot from the fridge and a canister of prunes from one of the kitchen cabinets.

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Back in Vegas the night shift was just ending and things were well in hand for the next day's Christmas party. It would go on for the duration of each shift (day shift would have theirs, swing shift would have theirs, etc.) Grissom was just heading home when his cell went off; it was Heather. She needed him urgently for some strange reason. He drove to the house and when she opened the door he could tell that she had been crying. He escorted her further inside and he sat her down at the table in the sun room while he put on a pot of tea. When the tea was done, he brought it out and poured her a cup and enquired as to her needing him.

"How can I help you?" he asked

"Its the holiday season and Zoe isn't here and I miss her. I'm feeling out of sorts. I have no one to spend Christmas with. I must confess that when I called you I was feeling hopeless and very depressed, almost to the point of suicide." she explained

"I'll be here. I'll be with you." he said as he sipped his tea

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Jim had just finished cooking lunch for he and Sara when his cell went off. It was Nick calling to wish him a Happy Christmas. Apparently he was in DC visiting a friend and when Jim told him that he was so close, he invited Nick to spend Christmas Eve with him. No one knew that he and Sara were married, save for Grissom, but now Nick would find out and Jim would gauge his reaction. Jim and Sara had decided to wear their rings out in the open and not keep their marriage a secret any longer and now Nick would be the first to find out.

Seated around the kitchen table eating their lunch when Jim dropped the bomb. Sara wasn't in the least bit surprised at what Jim told her, but was glad that it would be Nick that would be the first to find out. Nick wasn't the gossipmonger that Greg or Catherine were; he was better at keeping things to himself. Jim stated that Nick would arrive the following morning and most likely spend the night. He had taken a few days off to visit a friend in DC over the holidays and said that he would be glad to see Jim on Christmas Eve. Jim said nothing about Sara or the marriage and thought it would be a bit of a shock, but he'd deal with it.

As the day progressed, Jim and Sara just hung around the house and watched the tellie while cuddling on the couch. When it came time to go to bed, they shut the tellie off and went to bed. It was so cold out that even with the heat on they still needed an extra blanket. Jim got out of bed and opened the wooden chest at the foot end of the bed and pulled out a medium weight quilt. He draped it over the existing bedclothes and crawled back into bed, draping his right arm around Sara's abdomen. She placed her hand atop of Jim's and gave a little squeeze before backing into him so that they were truly spooning;  
every inch of Sara's back touching every inch of Jim's front.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

With the snow still falling, Nick was navigating his way down the Clara Barton Parkway from DC into Cabin John. He got off the parkway at the MacArthur Blvd. Exit and made a sharp left down Ericsson Rd. He made his second left on McKay Circle and parked in front of the house that Jim was staying at. He parked his car and walked up the stone path that led to the front door. It was kind of on the early side, 08:00hrs, but figured that Jim would be awake. Nick had done some shopping the previous day, as he didn't want to show up empty handed, and carried his overnight bag and another bag with several gifts within. He set his bags on the ground and knocked on the door.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Christ, who the hell is that?!" Sara grumbled

"That would probably be Nick." Jim said as he climbed out of bed

In his boxers and tank top, Jim shuffled down the hall and opened the front door to see Nick with a grin on his face. Jim didn't say anything, but just opened the door and gestured for him to come in. Nick grabbed his bags and entered the house just in time to see Sara coming from the bedroom. As Jim was gesturing with his hand Nick noticed the ring on his hand and looked to Sara's hand and saw a ring on her hand as well. Looking at Nick and the expression on his face, Brass offered a preemptive strike.

"We're married. Have been for a little while. You're the first to know. Savvy?" Jim said

Looking at the both of them, Nick smiled.

"Savvy."


End file.
